


The Echo Effect

by Jenna_Nicole



Category: The Flash
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Barry Allen & Cisco Ramon Friendship, Breach Psychosis, Caitlin Snow Needs a Hug, Cisco Ramon Needs A Hug, Cisco Ramon is Vibe, Cisco Ramon-centric, Cisco and Echo, Dark Cisco Ramon, Doppelganger, F/M, KillerVibe - Freeform, Metahuman Leonard Snart, Protective Cisco Ramon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-01-28 23:03:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21400102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenna_Nicole/pseuds/Jenna_Nicole
Summary: “What is this, breach psychosis?”Echo barely looked at him. “Nope, not yet. I’m sure that will come. There are always consequences to ignorant decisions.”“You would know,” Cisco responded, pushing to get under Echo’s skin.“I would know if I was ignorant.”
Relationships: Cisco Ramon & Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon & Echo, Cisco Ramon/Caitlin Snow
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	1. Simulation

**Author's Note:**

> For everyone who had been asking for stories focused on breach psychosis as well as a really fleshed out focus on Echo, here you go! The title of the story is 100% a pun and I'm not sorry.

One: Simulation 

The world was blue, frantic flickering. Familiar, but harsh. Because weeks had been dreamless, peacefully, and in all suddenness, he was pulled back into familiar color. 

Blue. 

If it was a vibe, it was only a dream. A dream of cold nostalgia meant to mock the quietness in his bones. It wouldn’t let him go, like a jealous ex, and it was meant to convince him he had chosen wrong. But that was something he would refuse to believe. Because he didn’t miss it. This was just a daydream that an exhausted brain had concocted for tired delusions. 

He figured with a sigh that he would humor the vibe. 

His surroundings were initially unclear, but the lights were dimmed. He was in a corridor but not one that he knew. A stray memory reminded him of Iron Heights. The familiarity of the place felt much more like a prison he had seen in a movie a few months back. The place was secure. That, and dead quiet. 

And then, as if he had breached his way to another room, he was standing somewhere else, but there was no clear location. Instead, he found himself looking directly into the cold dark eyes of a person. 

His breath hitched, as coldness drenched his body like a heavy wave. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. He could only stare furiously at the dead eyes across from him. The eyes of the person he had defeated, again looking at him with the upper hand, completely in control, and bored to death. 

“Hey Cisco,” he said, looking away momentarily, his voice singing. “I bet you think this is a dream.” 

Frantic blinking, as an attempt to leave, was worthless, as he continued to stand with a frozen body and frozen mouth. He was paralyzed. Completely forced into a position where he just watched _ him _, the face that killed Cynthia. 

“But it's not,” he continued, relaxed. He was messing around with some device in his hands, fidgeting with it carelessly. 

Gaining his footing and daring himself to look that person in the eyes, Cisco finally found air. “What do you want?” 

If he had been able to, he would have laughed at the chained up prisoner, brought down by the law, as he should be. 

Echo should have been discouraged. He should have been distraught and angry. But he hardly seemed like he cared. He almost looked relieved.  
This, of course, was infuriating. Cisco wanted to laugh at him. He truly did want him to suffer. 

But this Cisco, or Echo, didn’t look like he was suffering at all. He looked like he had won. 

Echo looked up from where he was staring, apparently realizing he hadn’t answered. “I still want you to learn something.” 

“After I outsmarted you? No, I think I know what I’m doing. I’m the reason you’re here in these chains.” 

“And I’m the reason you’re here, unable to move.” He laughed to himself, letting long strands of hair fall in his face, unwashed and frizzy. “I’m not giving you a choice.” 

That much was clear. 

The mastery of pulling himself from a vibe had never come easy, but when he had seen what he was supposed to, it would sometimes be as if he was thrown back out, suddenly expected to land back on his feet despite what images may have flashed before his eyes. But now, there was much more of a tug on him to stay, as if Echo was successfully holding him there in place until he deemed him able to leave. 

In long silences, Cisco just watched him, attempting repeatedly to figure out what circumstances led himself, Cisco Ramon, to become Echo. To go from perhaps a genuine, good person, instead of to this machine of a man. He wondered how much of himself could possibly be in this hollow human being if any. 

Not because he had sympathy, but because he had fear. 

It had been Reverb that had made him uneasy about his powers at first. He had seen his own face bare the eyes of a monster. He had watched and wondered in frantic curiosity about himself and how he could possibly become someone like that. And so he had hesitated to be Vibe for a bit, afraid that the power would unlock another piece of him that could birth the creation of his villain origin story. He knew the arcs and the tropes. He watched movies. He knew what a Cloud City-Vader offer looked like. 

He had a sickening feeling that Echo might be after the same sort of thing. 

“What is this, breach psychosis?” 

Echo barely looked at him. “Nope, not yet. I’m sure that will come. There are always consequences to ignorant decisions.” 

“You would know,” Cisco responded, pushing to get under Echo’s skin. 

“I would know if _ I _ was ignorant.” He was on his feet now, taking steps closer to Cisco. “But I have calculated every possible outcome. I know this building. I know how this ends. I know what happens next. I know you and every move you’ll ever make. And how do I, Cisco? How do I know it all so well?” 

“I actually don’t care.” 

Echo laughed again, more hair falling in his face as he looked down, exposing a significant scar extending down the side of his neck. His hair fell back into place, and it was hidden. Echo was still laughing to himself. “You can’t lie to me. I know everything about you. Which is why I know that you care. You always care.” 

When Cisco didn’t say anything else, Echo took it as confirmation. 

“You need to stop though. It never ends well. I would know.” 

Cisco shook his head, tired of looking at him. Time spent accepting the environment allowed him to take a step back so that his damned clone was no longer breathing down his neck. “I don’t care if we’re genetically the same person. You know nothing about me.” 

“I know everything about you,” he said, his dull eyes sparking for a moment as if insanity had fallen over him. “When I got my power, I began by scouring the multiverse, searching for a Cisco Ramon that was like me. And yes, I found a few that were more like me, but I found most of the doppelgangers that I met were almost exactly like you.” 

“Well, good. I was starting to think all my doppelgangers were psychopaths. If they’re so much like me, why not bother them instead? 

“First of all, I did, genius. But they aren’t from Earth 1. You’re the first. Cisco Ramon prime. We’re just copies.” 

Cisco wasn’t sure if he should take any of that as a compliment. So he ignored Echo, hoping that he would eventually give up and let Cisco leave. But Echo was not so easy to bore, as he simply took advantage of the silence and messed around with the same device in his hand, resembling a torn apart extrapolator, or a poorly put together one. 

“Where did you get that?” Cisco asked, bored from the silence. 

“A fellow prisoner. An old friend.” 

“A friend?” Cisco asked, not daring to believe Echo had friends or ever did. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. “Which one?” 

Echo shook his head, not willing to divulge. That wasn’t his goal. “You aren’t ready to hear it and I’m not willing to tell it. That’s not the reason you’re here.” 

Frustrated, Cisco turned away, realizing there was no visible door in the entire cell. The only light came from a small panel on the ceiling and there were no vents of any kind. He began to wonder if this was a real cell at all. 

“It isn’t,” Echo told him, smiling as Cisco reacted to him reading his mind. “It’s a simulation I created.” 

“‘Why am I here?” he asked, crossing his arms. 

“To negotiate.” 

“I’m not negotiating anything with you.” 

Echo rolled his eyes, expecting just that from another Cisco. But he also knew Cisco well enough to know that there were certain things Cisco would do despite his morals if it meant protecting or saving certain people. And Echo had the keys to saving two of them. 

“Listen to what I have to say first.” 

“I’m listening,” he responded, wanting nothing more than to tune him out, but he figured it would be best to stay alert in case it was important. He didn’t exactly have a choice. 

Echo met his eyes, as a sign of having the upper hand. “I ask of you two things,” he said, his voice dully droning on. “You make sure I am spared during the upcoming Crisis. When Earth 19 is long gone, I want to be on Earth 1, safe in your pipeline.” 

“Why would I want you safe from-” 

“Second thing,” he monotonically continued. “I want you to get me ten minutes alone with Eobard Thawne. We have history.” 

Cisco just stared at him bitterly, already shaking his head. “No way. I’m not stupid.” 

Echo studied him, nodding. “I know, Cisco. We’re the smartest they get. But if I remember correctly, and let me know if I have this wrong, but we do have a weakness, don’t we? I think if I can remember back to my days at Star Labs, that we might have had a little trouble letting things go. In particular, letting people go. Letting people die. Letting them leave. Ring a bell at all?” 

Cisco wouldn’t answer. 

“Agree to grant me my two wishes and I’ll supply you with the information you need to save both Barry Allen and Caitlin Snow. They both come out of Crisis alive and Caitlin keeps her soul.” 

Lost for words, Cisco blinked repeatedly. “Caitlin’s soul?” 

Echo laughed mockingly at him. “You would know what I’m talking about if you had your powers, genius. Your ignorance is laughable.” 

A bit tenser, Cisco looked away from him again, his head spinning madly. 

“I studied your earth for weeks before I planted that gun. I memorized your base. I talked to your friends. I know what’s going on there. I _ vibed _ her.” 

It didn’t matter what he said. Cisco knew he couldn’t trust him. Even if he was correct, the deal didn’t make any sense. Echo seemed to be so confident that he probably didn’t need Cisco to achieve his goals at all. The assistance he was offering was a trap and Cisco wasn’t about to fall for it. He would never work with the person who killed Cynthia. 

“Don’t expect to see Caitlin for a long time, Cisco. Frost is very possessive. I would know.” 

Cisco wasn’t about to ask what that meant or why Echo had any interest in helping him save Caitlin or Barry. This was all an elaborate trap. That much was clear. “I’m not falling in your trap and I’m not working with you. You’re dead to me no matter what you have to offer.” 

“Likewise.”

Restlessness took over him and he began pacing, trying to focus on the issue at hand, which was getting out of this vision. He could feel a migraine coming and he wasn’t about to spend the rest of the day in bed due to Echo. He had enough issues to deal with at Star Labs. 

And now he had to make sure Caitlin wasn’t losing her soul as Echo had claimed. It was bad enough the comment had sparked uneasiness but even worse that he had already been unsettled by the extended time Caitlin was hidden away in exchange for Frost to live a life she felt she deserved. Cisco had tried to play nice and attempt to befriend her. But the memories of a time before still lingered. He knew what Killer Frost was and he always had a lingering fear that that version was still very much alive inside, even if just in temporary dormancy. 

He pushed back the feeling, knowing it would only increase the impending migraine. “Can I leave?” he asked, trying not to show distress.

Echo was aware of it but didn’t comment. “Yeah, you can. But this won’t be the last time we speak, Cisco. You know that.” 

Cisco stared at him some more, anger lit in his eyes. 

“Here’s some free advice though. I’d like to set things right.” 

Cisco just laughed in his face. 

“Don’t be the reason Caitlin leaves. Get a grip of your damn life.” 

“I thought you were jealous _ of my _ life.” 

Echo smiled a little, looking nearly sad for a moment. But his face quickly morphed back into a solemn, but emotionless expression. “You have everything available to you and you don’t take it. It’s infuriating.” He sighed, shaking his head to himself. “That’s all you get.” 

And as if Echo had just snapped his fingers and forced him back into his body, Cisco shook himself awake in bed, gripping the sheets in fists. He just trembled, staring widely at the specks of black around him and hum of white noise. 

He was beginning to hate the machine more than anything else, so he switched it off before crawling back into the empty covers. 

Where the hell was his girlfriend? 

Rolling over and pushing his face into the pillow, he decided it didn’t matter at the moment. He didn’t feel the need to explain his current restlessness to her, or anyone, and would much rather scream into his pillow alone. 

Dozing off once or twice, he woke up the next day for work with the vague memory of his own voice saying, “Don’t trust Frost, Cisco.”


	2. Two: Hallucinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was just a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I am officially on break from classes for over a year. I can't believe it's finally over.  
This, of course, means I have a lot more time to write. This also gives my readers permission to scream at me for not updating, because guess what, I don't have a valid excuse anymore.  
Anyway, on with the chapter I suppose. This chapter is a little bit filler, but not really. It will be important in the long run, I promise.

Two: Hallucinations 

It was just a dream. 

He remembered a time where he had also considered the same about the recurring visions of Eobard’s blurry hand through his chest, pulling at his vision in shards of pitch black. He had thought the same of Kendra’s goddess nature, brass wings in flickering blue neon light. In all of the beginning, he had let his mind doubt, reassuring himself that those glimpses hadn’t been future events, but rather, fabrications of his wild imagination. 

_ Those _ hadn’t been, but surely this one was definitely just a dream. 

He was still telling himself the same of Mar Nova, the last time he had reached out for his power. He had stood there, suddenly frozen in time, being told repeatedly that he couldn’t stop the future. That he couldn’t do it. That everything was set in stone and his powers would get him nowhere. That he was worthless. 

And suddenly everything sank, more and more each time the vision came back, and every time there was something new. He hadn’t told anyone the rest of it. He could hardly let himself think about it. All he knew were the eyes of the Monitor, looking at him, with the purpose of letting him know that there was nothing he could do. By a week of constant visions, several times each day, each with their own jolt at his composure, he began to hate his power altogether. 

Now Echo was telling him he was stupid for giving them up. 

He could never win, could he? 

But Echo was just a dream. 

_ I’m not, _ he could imagine him saying, a smile coming to Cisco’s memory. 

He kept his focus on his work, keeping himself hidden in the background of Team Flash, using every algorithm and satellite in his occupancy to track down Bloodwork. But the trail seemed to be running cold just like the others he had attempted to follow. Clearly, Ramsay didn’t want to be found. At least that meant he may not be killing anyone. 

That hope was destroyed when Barry walked in saying that more bodies were found at a clinic a bit outside the city, with the same M.O. as last time. Barry had dragged him to help investigate the scene, which went practically nowhere. The security cameras had captured Ramsay, but not his exit. The only information they gathered was that he was getting stronger, very quickly. 

Cisco spent the rest of the day in his workshop, messing around with a few of his old projects and trying to keep his mind off the things Echo had told him. They were blatant lies and he knew it. He was wasting his time even considering that Echo may be telling the truth. Even more, he was wasting his time thinking that the conversation was even valid and real. It was all a dream, after all. 

Echo was in Blackgate Penitentiary. Collector’s Jail. It was one of the most secure prisons on Cisco’s earth and on Earth 19. Breacher seemed confident that he was secure, and Breacher would ensure that. More than that, there was no possible way they would allow Echo to have access to his powers. Him being able to manipulate Cisco’s dreams in general, but especially from prison in his chained and powerless state, was ridiculous to consider. 

Unless, of course, Echo had an inside man. 

The thought of the extrapolator in his hand made Cisco uneasy, being that Echo had claimed it was given to him by a fellow prisoner. 

But he wasn’t going to entertain the thought. Echo had clearly shown him the device as an attempt to make Cisco paranoid. It was assimilation just like the rest of Echo’s cell. It was a trick. 

A trick, completely fabricated, because it was just a dream. 

But then, what if it wasn’t? 

“Damn it!” he said aloud, leaning back into his chair, frustrated. He had admittedly gotten nothing done in the last hour, all while he spent his time taking apart, then putting back together several projects. They weren’t what he wanted them to be and they weren’t going to help him change the future. 

He had told Barry that he would stop looking into ways to prevent his death. Shamelessly, Cisco had lied to his face. He would never stop. He couldn’t no matter how hard he tried. 

Echo, who was only a dream, wasn’t helping. 

“Cisco!” said a booming voice behind him, jerking him out of his haze. He almost yelled as he turned his desk chair to face the daunting man behind him. Breacher looked at Cisco, fury burning in his eyes. “Get off your ass, you’re coming with me.” 

Wide-eyed, Cisco just stared at him, slowly moving his hands above his head in surrender. “Josh, tell me what’s going on. I promise I didn’t kill anyone...again.” 

His rage not lessening, Breacher turned to open a portal. “Your doppelganger has escaped. You’re going to come with me and help me capture him again.” 

Cisco turned back toward his desk silently, counting softly at the seconds as he lost his collective sanity.  _ 1, 2,... _

“Cisco!” 

_ 3...oh no, this was no happening.  _

“Cisco!” 

So he forced himself to his feet, letting his world spin madly on as he followed Breacher to the portal, trying to hear past the shriek of ringing in his ear and the way his stomach was somewhere behind him, lagging behind with all of his strength. It didn’t matter. Breacher wasn’t giving him a choice and he would have come no matter how much the thought made him want to throw up. 

They arrived directly at Blackgate, already somewhere past security and as deep in the prison as any visitor could be. He decided not to question Breacher’s methods and focus on the task at hand. “Okay, how did he escape?” he asked, his voice echoing in the room, unnervingly so. His breath caught in his throat, suddenly becoming aware of the space around him, and the empty presence of his companion. He caught his breath, turning back toward where Breacher was standing mere seconds ago. He did this, only to find himself staring at his own fuzzy reflection in a tinted black window. He felt his blood grow cold as he looked around further only to find that Breacher was nowhere in the vicinity. It was only him. 

Only him and...well, he could only guess. 

Turning around again, he placed his eyes on a pane of glass, where visitors would sit opposite for conversation. Behind a chair and beside the phone, with quiet composure, staring directly at Cisco with a nearly friendly smirk was  _ him.  _

Him, again. With the upper hand. With playful confidence that made Cisco want to turn for the door. 

“What did you do to me this time?” Cisco asked, keeping his distance from the glass. 

Echo gave him a steady glare, as if to say,  _ I can’t hear you, idiot. _ He pointed to the phone, mocking Cisco with his eyes. 

_ No way, _ he mouthed back, turning for the door. 

The door, which Breacher must be standing on the other side of. Because surely Cisco couldn’t have imagined any of what happened mere moments ago. He had reluctantly followed. Breacher had been insistent. Cisco never would have intentionally come here. 

He was seriously beginning to doubt his own sanity. 

Especially when he came to the realization that he was at a prison without going through security, without Breacher, and without a way to get out without exiting through the same security who had never seen him. Even worse, he wore the face of the prisoner he was visiting. 

It took a moment of panic for it to finally dawn on him. 

Lightheaded and angry, he approached his own dead eyes, pointing a finger at him. “You did this,” he asked, half as a question. 

As if this might be the most boring conversation he had ever been in, Echo just glanced up calmly, pointing his finger at the phone again.  _ Idiot _ , he mouthed, leaning into his chair. 

Unfazed by Echo’s mockery of him, Cisco stiffly drew the phone to his face, keeping his distance from the glass. “You did this,” he said again, but as a statement. “Didn’t you?” 

Echo laughed shortly, leaning deeper into his chair as if he was getting ready to fall asleep. “Do you honestly think I would tell you if I did?” he met with another question. 

Logically, Cisco knew he wouldn’t. 

Illogically, Cisco was about to demand Echo spill every piece of his master plan in hope that he would walk out knowing how to save his friends, how he got to Blackgate, how to be sure it wouldn’t happen again, and how to block Echo out of his consciousness. 

Instead, he asked the most reasonable question he could muster. “What did you hack this time?” 

“You think I have the power to control you while you’re awake?” Echo questioned, interest peeking momentarily. “Wow, I think I’ll just play along with it then. Go on. What have I done now?” 

Frozen still, Cisco narrowed his eyes. “Did you open the breach?” he asked, resting in his thoughts for a bit, his eyes fading into a blank gaze. He was lost in it. He wasn’t even listening for an answer. “Did  _ I _ open the breach?” he asked then, eyes circling his exterior, lifting his hand to his eyes. 

“You’re being irrational, Cisco. Check your pockets.” 

Cisco ignored him, opening his hand up and staring at it in a haze. It felt so light. So empty. So meaningless. 

It was just a palm and five fingers. 

It used to be a weapon. 

It used to have power. 

To Cisco’s shock, Echo seemed impatient. “You didn’t use your powers, dumbass.” 

When Cisco didn’t say anything, Echo began rolling his eyes. 

“I’m sure it will be fine, Cisco. This won’t happen again. Just go home and get some rest. It will pass” 

Cisco looked up, eyes still fiery. Echo actually sounded like he was being nice, but his face betrayed him. He looked like he might burst into laughter. 

“Is this what Breacher warned me about?” he said, mostly to himself. 

“If you could sort this out on your earth, I’d appreciate it. I actually had plans.” 

Furious still, Cisco just stared at him, still at a loss as to what was actually happening. “Why are you here, Echo?” 

Casually, he was smirking at Cisco. “I was told I had a visitor. It looks like you broke the law and it was premeditated.” 

“Breacher said you escaped.” 

“No, Breacher didn’t say anything. You’re delusional.” 

Perhaps Cisco just needed, as Echo had claimed, a good night’s rest. Perhaps the effects would wear off and he would find himself back to normal in the morning. He could go on living his life and Echo could continue being alone in prison, as he deserved. 

“So you aren’t the reason this is happening?” 

“I might have triggered it,” he said, laughing. 

It was strange that the same person who had forced him to stand before him in a dream was now urging him to leave. It was even stranger that Cisco was still sitting across from him, despite the exit right behind him. 

Of course, he didn’t actually have an exit. Not one that didn’t get him into trouble, at least temporarily. “You need to stop ignoring me.” 

“You don’t usually give me a choice.” 

Echo shook his head, running a hand through his hair, laced with curls... “I told you to look in your damn pockets.” 

Cisco reluctantly obeyed his order, digging in his pocket until he came across an extrapilator that shouldn’t have been there. But yet, there it was, now held in his hand. Now laughing at and mocking him the same way Echo was with his deadpan expression. 

Cisco didn’t say anything, but he tried to explain to himself that this was just a minor hallucination. 

Not a big deal. Just a hallucination that drove him to travel to a different earth and illegally visit the last person he wanted to look at. 

“I told you to go home and rest, but it isn’t going to do the trick.” 

“Yeah?” Cisco asked, trying to convince himself that this breach psychosis was at peak insanity. It would end now. He had learned his lesson, of course, whatever that lesson was. He had realized he was hallucinating. That was the first step. He could move forward now. 

Go back to his normal life. 

“Tell me why you tried to repress your powers?” Echo asked him, reluctantly continuing the conversation, despite his initial interest in ending it. 

Cisco shook his head. “I didn’t, I got rid of them.” 

“You got rid of multiversal meta powers?” Echo asked, not seeming to believe him in the slightest. “Okay,” he said, proposing he was talking about an actual concept. “Why would you do that?” 

This was ridiculous. Cisco wasn’t about to tell Echo a damn thing about his life. Clearly, Echo knew enough. So Cisco kept his mouth shut, already programming the device to open up a breach so he could go home. 

“Because I didn’t believe I could be more amazed by your own stupidity, but you’ve surprised me. You’ve managed to take every nice benefit of earth 1 Cisco Ramon, and trade it for practically nothing.” 

“I don’t think having a normal life is nothing.” 

“You’re right. But this is not about a normal life. You’re ungrateful. You’re straight-up stupid. I thought I would have to set things right. Reverse your fortunes. But your ignorance is plain to see. You reversed your own fortunes before I even got there.” 

Cisco would never admit to the validity of a single thing Echo was saying. Not out loud, anyway. 

He put down the phone and shook his head. “I’m not going to sit through this, Echo.” 

Echo just stared at him blankly. “You’re proving my point.” 

Cisco turned away, opening up the breach as quickly as he could manage. 

He glanced back at Echo briefly, who was waving with a guilty expression, as if he had sent a false surprise with Cisco for his journeys. Except there was no such thing, except that he had successfully gotten in Cisco’s head, once again. 

Everything behind him could burn, as far as Cisco was concerned, as he stepped into his workshop and closed the breach. All of that was nothing more than a waste of time and a waste of needed energy. All of his projects were still sitting on his desk, waiting to be completed. 

He ignored the aftershock in his mind that came with visiting Echo again, and sat down, unmotivated, but mostly defeated. He wondered how he could restore his mind to its normal capacity. He also wondered how many of the conversations he had been apart of that day had even existed. 

Had he even went with Barry to the hospital? Had he even talked to Echo at all? In all honesty, he wasn’t completely sure he had even left. It was daunting to consider. 

Along with that, he did wonder what the end goal of breach psychosis was. If and how it would end. What it’s purpose was. If he could successfully overcome it without reviving his power. 

Echo acted as if he didn’t believe the powers were gone at all. 

Cisco was about to just go home, attempt to forget about any of his interactions with Echo, any of his hallucinations, any of the things that had him stressed out at the moment. He could search through Kamilla’s house to be sure Echo hadn’t hacked anything further. He could plan to do the same with Star Labs the next day. He wanted to stay calm and quiet about the whole situation. He needed to have Barry convinced he was capable of leading the team when he was gone. He needed to be strong for whatever would come in the next few weeks. 

He was about to leave when a face caught his eyes in the corridor. A face he hadn’t seen in what felt like weeks. 

“Caitlin?” 


	3. Resilience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did you know?” he whispered, gripping her arm, his heart punching his chest. “Did you know she would ask this much of you?” 

Three: Resilience

Echo was startled awake by the sound of a fallen body in the corridor. 

He stared widely at the ceiling fan, counting the bodies fall.  _ One, two, three, four… _

He had memorized the setup. There were six more to go. 

The fall of number seven was significantly louder than the last ones. It must have been Phillips, he determined. He was the only one he would consider a worthy opponent and the only one who might stop her in her tracks for a few moments longer than any other guard at collector jail. 

He repressed a laugh when the tenth one was heard tumbled down a set of stairs, grunts and failing animated aloud. She was close, leaving ten men and likely more unconscious, or dead, after being completely caught off guard in the dead hours of their shift. It was her specialty. He could attest to her talents, being a victim to them in the same fashion. 

He almost found himself sigh at the memory as if for a moment he was not where he was now, but somewhere back home, with his boyish charm and nervous ramblings. Back with Leo, little Emma, Dante, and Cait. Back before he realized that friendship was no more than an illness. 

He brushed the thought away, easily now, as if it never was there. He focused his mind on the sound of light footsteps in the corridor. 

He wasn’t incredibly surprised when he turned and she was already on the other side of the glass, watching him with unveiled annoyance. She was clad in black, older now, but just as capable as she always had been. 

“Sara,” he said, brushing a hand through his hair, in somewhat of an attempt to look presentable. “Still kicking ass I see.” 

Sara Lance stood disguised. But she was an old friend. He would recognize her anywhere. Countless missions beside her and Cait had made it easy to memorize even her footsteps. 

“Always,” she said with half a smirk, almost familiar. 

But her face quickly became serious. She was here for business, not to chat. “I have less than a minute, Cisco. This is everything you need,” she said, placing a small box in the compartment attached to his cell door. “Time it right.” 

“I already had a plan, Sara.” 

“I’m sure you did,” she said, adjusting her mask, her eyes doubtful. “It wasn’t foolproof though. Besides, you need to be quick. Eobard will locate you...well, soon. You need to disappear.” 

“That isn’t a problem.” 

She began stepping backward toward the door. She was already out of time. “Did you recruit earth 1?” 

He attempted to swallow the bitter taste in his mouth as if maybe that would be enough to rid him of the tang of his own failure. “I murdered his ex.” Admittedly, it was a lapse of judgment. It was not like him to ignore any intricacy. He was accustomed to processing unending amounts of data. It was what he did. But this one time, in an admittedly weak moment, he had allowed himself to be distracted by earth 1. He had missed a crucial detail. “I needed her off my back.” 

“That’s messy, Cisco.” She said it as if she didn’t know he was aware of that. As if he didn’t feel the constant compulsion to pull back the strings of time and start over. 

He rolled his eyes, playing her game. “I realize that.” 

“New plan?” she asked casually. 

He just nodded, not answering. “I’m right behind you.” 

She stopped a moment, giving him a pitiful smile. The kind she only gave if she doubted him. The kind she hadn’t given him since the day he had stood firmly in front of an open breach, vowing to never return to earth 17 again. “You know,” she said, almost hesitant, but not quite. “Snow wouldn’t want this.” 

He met her eyes with a deadly glare, doing well at pretending her choice of words didn’t awake an emotion. Instead, he kept his face blank, breathing out the words with enough strength to say it. “Snow is dead.” 

She hardly reacted to his typical reaction, suddenly, and then quietly sliding down the corridor to the nearest exit point. She was incredibly aware that he was now sitting in his cell, furious, probably shaking in rage. She didn’t care much. She would do anything to get him to at least consider that he was being crazy. 

He pinched the corner of his nose, focusing his mind on the dead noise, and then the constant buzz that began once more when the surveillance turned back on. No doubt, Sara had made it out without detection, because of course, she did. And he had the box hidden under his mattress, automatically, put there without thought. 

He knew exactly what he was doing. 

Now he had to set a mental clock so that he would not time it wrong and not be too late. His escape would have to be precise, quiet, and unnoticed. At least not until he was breaching his way to another earth, ready to peddle out an identity he could hold for a while, just until he sorted out his next getaway. 

Sara would be angry when she realizes he didn’t follow her. 

Of course, she was probably already aware of that when he had flat out made earth 17 dead to him. 

She should expect this from him by now. 

It was alright. That wasn’t his concern anyway. His concern, of course, was earth 1 Cisco. The Cisco Ramon that made Echo’s blood boil like little else. But also, the Cisco Ramon, who was very useful and bright, but was currently unwilling and unable to supply to Echo what he actually needed. 

So he would groom him. Try to be nice. Set things up that Cisco had torn down. Maybe, if he would let him do so, teach Cisco how to manipulate the mistakes and make them work in correct order again. Straighten it out. Warp it. Whatever was necessary. Echo wouldn’t stop until he had the Cisco Ramon that he needed. 

Of course, he also despised this Cisco Ramon like nothing else. 

It’s why he pulled his thoughts away from the matter so he could try to get some sleep. But he could do no such thing. He wasn’t quite sure why he expected it. The noise never stopped so how could he? His body was a living, breathing machine. 

He gave up his quest and reined his thoughts, reluctantly putting his thoughts on Cisco again, aiming them to him. 

~.~

But Earth 1 Cisco was not dreaming. Instead, this Cisco lay in bed, eyes wide, heart-pounding, and cold bones. Nervous energy filled his blood as he rested stiffly beside Kamilla, the ability to find comfort lost from him, and she didn’t quite notice. She was asleep, her dreams somewhere peaceful and nice. 

Cisco had to unclench his jaw for the sixth time since he put himself down. 

_ Breathe, _ he told himself, willing his mind to be rational. Begging his thoughts to not jump to dangerous conclusions. Forcing his body into stillness. Pushing hard so that air would be released from his mouth. 

Echo didn’t know a damn thing about Caitlin Snow. 

The conclusion was beyond sanity, fueled by anger, and ignorance. Frankly, his assumption that Echo was nothing like himself, and could never be anything like himself, was beyond delusional. Dangerous even. He was capable of having friends. Having family. Echo must have loved someone, right? The issue was on why he would lie, or even richer, why would he tell the truth? 

Sinking deeper into the bed, Cisco told himself repeatedly that Echo could not have been telling him the truth. There was absolutely no possibility that Echo had been looking out for him, offering genuine words of advice. 

But this was about Caitlin’s soul. 

Cisco had never dropped the issue. It had been tumbling through his brain all throughout the day, even during his own personal struggles, taking a priority beyond his own hallucinations. The gnawing, worrisome need pulled harder than the thought that maybe he couldn’t control his own actions. He was more worried that she couldn’t control hers. 

But he had put the thought on pause for a little. He didn’t want to divulge on Echo and let him control his mind. He would keep Echo’s comments about Caitlin’s soul constantly present, but he wouldn’t let himself panic over them. Not until he had reason to believe he was actually right. 

He thought that perhaps Echo knew from experience and lived in a timeline where Caitlin did become Killer Frost forever. Where she was lost from him. Where she did go away forever to never return. 

But that was Echo’s Caitlin Snow, right? Not Cisco’s. Not the Caitlin Snow of earth 1. 

Maybe it was in his head now, but after he talked to Caitlin today, he found himself in a panic. 

Initially, he had been delighted and relieved to see his friend, walking the hallways for the first time in what felt much longer than the several days it actually had been. Something had swelled in all of the exhaustion, and he nearly deflated, relief driving him to the embrace of his best friend. 

“Caitlin?” he said, as a genuine question. He felt like it had been months. And he wasn’t sure if the relief came from his own exhaustion of the day or the actual face of Caitlin Snow passing his workshop. 

She had turned, just as his finger touched her elbow, her lips forming a soft but weak smile. He nearly collapsed on top of her, his arms around her tight and warm. Caitlin had sunk back into him, absentmindedly stroking his shoulder. “What is it?” she asked, gladly accepting, but somewhat thrown a loop by his outburst of affection. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, his long hair in his face when he pulled back. “I just haven’t seen you in a long time.” 

“I know,” she said, her face clouded with guilt. She pulled from him ever so slightly, meeting his wearily. “I’m sorry.” 

He had no intention to make her feel guilty or bad for wanting to let Frost have a life. He never wanted her to feel judged for abandoning her friends when they both knew that wasn’t what she was doing. But yet, he wouldn’t deny that her absence stung. No matter what they did, it always felt like someone was missing, whether Frost was there or not. And Frost, though a colorful character, was someone he cared for and was beginning to even like, but she would never, no matter what she did, be anything to Caitlin Snow. Because Caitlin Snow was irreplaceable. 

“Don’t feel bad, Caitlin. I’m just happy to see you.” 

He had reassured her, calmly, but he was absolutely not calm. If anything, the soft tone of his voice was a brave cover for empty rage in his stomach, not daring to meet his facial features. They did remain soft, as he let his hand rest on the side of her arm, a small smile meeting his lips. 

“I’ve missed you too,” she said, and she almost shuttered, but she hid it well. 

She tried to. 

“But what aren’t you saying, Cisco?” she asked, meeting eyes with hidden rage, gripping it by its throat and demanding it shows itself. But Cisco repressed, pushing his own fears, his own taunting, his own memory of what Echo said, all of it, as far away as he could humanly do. 

He wouldn’t show her his anger. He could never do that to her. But if she was asking, and she was, he would expose his concerns. It’s all he could do. “I just need to know,” he said, terrified of the worst answer. “If you told Frost that you wanted your life back, would she allow it? Is it even up to you? Will it always be up to you?” 

In response, she immediately looked away from him, and his stomach dropped. 

_ No... _

He took a step forward, begging her with only his expression, to please look into his eyes.  _ Please.  _

She bit her lip, quiet, silent, for far too long. Then she stretched a smile, crossed her fingers, looked away again, and then met his face. “Don’t worry, Cisco. I have control.”

_ Don’t fall for it _ , he felt as if Echo was telling him. 

He wanted to punch Echo in the face until his fists turned purple. 

“Don’t lie.” 

She looked at him, effectively hiding her terror. Effectively hiding everything from the person she didn’t hide anything from. It was too late. She was looking at him and she was lying. She was lying straight at him. Him, Cisco Ramon, and it tore at him.

But it tore more at her. 

“Don't lie.” 

She looked away. 

“Please, just trust me. I know you’re still angry. You’ll never forgive her for what happened a few years ago. But Frost, she’s good. She’s my friend. She’s a part of me. You  _ need _ to accept that.” 

Cisco just stared through her, a part furious, and a part shaken to the bone. He had approached her because he was having a bad day and Caitlin had always been an effective cure. And even more, he thrived off of giving like nothing else. If he could help, if he could be of use to her, in any way at all. If he could be sure that she was alright. If he could save her. 

He would be happy. 

But she didn’t understand. She didn’t understand what he was saying. “You think I hate Frost. I don’t.” 

“I know. But you don’t trust her.” 

He shut his eyes, trying to push Echo’s face out of his memory. 

_ Don’t trust Frost, Cisco _ . 

“I...I do.” 

“No, you don’t. You still think she’s trying to take over because you don’t trust her not to.” 

“Okay, how do I trust her when she doesn’t ever let me see Caitlin Snow?” 

“That was my choice.” 

“Well, maybe you should have considered…” he stopped himself, not wanting to do it. Not wanting to put that weight on her. It wouldn’t have been fair. 

“Cisco?” she asked, the same guilt flooding her eyes as before. 

He shook his head, looking away. 

“It’s great that you care for her that much. But did you ever think about how much your friends would miss you?” he asked, his eyes shadowy. “How much your friends would  _ need  _ you.” 

Caitlin looked at her feet, her face pale. Her hand, moving to his arm, ice cold. “Of course.” 

“Did you know?” he whispered, gripping her arm, his heart punching his chest. “Did you know she would ask this much of you?” 

Caitlin looked caught by his gaze, covered in shame, covered in guilt. But she swallowed hard, her eyes watery. Her chin trembled for a moment. Her fingers pulled away from his arm. She felt as if she had been betrayed. Not by him. Never by him. But she looked absolutely hollow, taking a step back. 

He reached to touch the tear sliding from the corner of her eyes. 

But then, sudden and raw, she snapped away. Her face was turned. Her expression was cold. And before she walked away, she looked back once, her eyes filled with fury. Her eyes stinging with hatred. 

“This isn’t your concern, Cisco.” 

And with one last freezing touch, she turned, and she was gone. 

So he stood, afraid to release the breath he was holding. Afraid he had pushed too far. Afraid he had broken something he couldn’t fix. 

But really, had he even pried? 

That’s what concerned him. Her resilience. Her reason for pushing so hard back. 

He looked down, feeling dirty. He was doing everything in his power to keep himself from falling apart. 

_ I will not fall apart.  _

Echo’s face met his mind, yet again, and he just laughed. He laughed and laughed. 

Cisco had walked home tense, trying to push past every fear and doubt in Frost, every harrowing outcome, every late-night fear...all of it. He hadn’t asked to live this way. He hadn’t volunteered to be tortured by his mind’s internal chaos. And Echo had no right to add to this. 

But as he stepped through Kamilla’s front door, loneliness settled in his stomach, the room quieted until he could only hear his breath. And as he thought of his girlfriend upstairs, who he couldn’t find the strength to walk to, he knew that this life would never be enough. 

Not this powerless, uneventful,  _ normal _ life. 

How could he live with this fear if he was powerless to stop it? He glanced down at his hands, unfolding them before his face. They still felt empty. They had felt absent for weeks. And all this life he had chosen had gotten him was a somewhat safe space and an overbearing feeling of helplessness. 

Because he was helpless, wasn’t he? 

If he could just vibe Caitlin, he could know if Echo was lying. 

Somehow he had made it to bed. He didn’t care how he got there. But he would not sleep. 

And that’s when Echo pried because he could do that. Because he had latched onto Cisco’s consciousness even if Cisco didn’t notice. It was the connection only breachers could have. An interdimensional link. The combination of like powers and identical DNA made it effortless. And maybe, if Cisco could just get a hold of his power, pulling ever repressor back, then maybe he could learn that fighting back wouldn’t be too difficult. If Echo could torment him, he could just as easily torment Echo. 

It was a lot easier to torment Echo than Cisco would believe. 

But for now, it was just Echo, pulling the strings of Cisco’s mind, waiting for him to be too tired to fight, so that he could engage, maybe say “hello.” 

When he did, Cisco opened his eyes, blinking back shades of blue. “Not again,” he whispered under his breath, aggressively falling into a dream. 

But it was different this time. It wasn’t in a cell. It wasn’t in a place where Echo was confined. Instead, Echo was standing above him while Cisco sat, the tight tug of rope around his arms. “Great,” he mumbled, letting his eyes fall closed. “What now?” 

“I missed my doppelganger.” 


End file.
